The Panama Canal is the greatest achievement of engineering

The artificial water Panama Canal is considered the highest achievement of engineering art. Thanks to the mountainous terrain and the relief bottom, it is all the way tortuous. It crosses the Isthmus of Panama in the narrowest part and connects the Panamanian Gulf and the Caribbean Sea.

On the coast of the Atlantic Ocean, it originates in the city of Colon, and off the coast of the Pacific Ocean ends with the city of Panama City. The length of the Panama Canal is 81.6 km, including 65.2 km of land and 16.4 km along the seabed of Limon and Panama Coves. Its opening date is 1920, although the first steamer sailed across the canal in 1914.

The opening of the Panama Canal had an invaluable impact on all world shipping and the economy of the Western Hemisphere. Thanks to this route, the distance from the western coast of the USA to the east coast by sea decreased from 22,000 km to 9,500 km.

The Panama Canal has three bilateral gates: the three-chamber "Gatun" is located on the Atlantic side, the one-chambered "Pedro Miguel" and the two-chamber "Miraflores" are closer to the Pacific Ocean. A large ship through the canal passes for eight hours, a small ship - for 4-5 hours. On their way they rise to a height of 26 meters from sea level. The width of the locks is 34 m, and the height is 305 m. The capacity of the canal is 48 ships per day.

Through the Panama Canal, there are private yachts and small vessels, as well as huge massive tankers, container ships. On the way of the ship, going along the canal, several locomotors accompany it from two sides overland. They do not pull the ship, but only help him stay in the middle of the lock and not touch the side walls. The connection between the captain of the ship and the navigator of the locomotor is carried out through the radio transmitter unilaterally. The locomotive only accepts the instructions of the ship's leadership, and does not give him anything. In Panama, this profession is considered honorable and highly paid. On average, one navigator a month can receive a salary up to $ 24 thousand, while the official minimum wage in the country reaches $ 450. The number of navigators navigators depends on the type of vessel being passed and can reach three people.

Until 2000, the Panama Canal and the eight-kilometer surrounding area belonged to the US military authorities. The Panamanian laws and the American police on this territory did not work. With the onset of January 1 of the year, the channel was transferred to the Panamanian government.

The cost of traveling through the Panama Canal for a small private yacht is about $ 800, and for the largest ship - $ 500 thousand. The public service - Administration of the Panama Canal - is responsible for collecting money for travel. To date, it has about 9,000 employees.

The government of the state invests considerable investments in the development of the Panama Canal. In the near future, it is planned to renew the park of locomotives and replace old lock gates with modern ones. In 2004, work was completed to expand the narrowest section. At this point the width of the passage from 13 km increased by 40 meters. This increased the carrying capacity of ships by 20%. Now here two ships pass simultaneously. In the near future, construction of three additional dams is planned.